On Thu, 21 Sep 2000, xskinheadx wrote:
> To: Mr. Burkhardt:
>
> I only brought up fair use to put the other gentleman's mind at ease, at
> least concerning the fair use issue.
Fair use has _NOTHING_ to do with what has been discussed however. That
was my point. No one has mentioned any use of the OGL which could even
vaguely be considered fair use of copyrighted material. The use of a
general plot concept is not fair use but rather refers to the fact that
you cannot copyright an idea but merely the explicit manner in which you
express the idea. So mentioning fair use doesn't put anyone's mind at
ease but merely brings in an unrelated topic to further confuse matters.
and IANAL - is short hand for "I am not a lawyer". Some people like to
add this just to make clear to others that they aren't lawyers and may be
mistaken about the law. Some also think it's necessary to protect them
from others who might follow their advice, but it really isn't. Still not
a bad thing to do however as it reminds others to do what they should do
anyway - consult a qualified attorney if they are uncertain about what
they are doing.
I am also not a lawyer. I do, however, have a law degree; but do not
claim to be offering legal advice to anyone on this list. If anyone is
concerned/nervous about what they want to do with OGL/D20, the only sure
way to shift some of the blame for your errors on to someone else is to
pay an attorney for legal assistance. It doesn't absolve you of
responsibility if you screw up, but it at least gives you someone else to
go after if you do get in trouble. :)
later,
alec
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